354 



SCANDIXAVIAN FISHES. 



old specimens, these fins are no longer thaii the ventral 

 fins. The doi-sal and the anal fins are both set farther 

 forward than in the Garpike", and are l)Oth lower and 

 shorter, being also withont the pointed prolongation in 

 front. As a rule, the anal fin is somewhat, though 

 only slightly, tlie longer; l)ut the difference is so small 

 that we may sometimes reckon the length of each of 

 these fins as equal to that of the postorbital part of 

 the head. The difference may sometimes be increased, 

 however, by the circumstance that the first finlet l)e- 

 hind either of these fins still preserves the appearance 

 of a posterior i)art of the fin, not l^eing separated from 

 it. Just as in the Garpike, the posterior rays of these 

 fins are rather widely separated from each other; but 

 the first ray — a difference of no slight importance — 

 in addition to being the only simple ray in the fin, is 

 also unarticulated, thus being a true spinous ray. The 

 caudal fin is deeply forked, and at the middle of its 

 base the dermal covering extends so far out over the 

 middle rays that oidy their branches are visible, a re- 

 sult of this being that the numljer of rays in this fin 

 has sometimes been stated to be considerably greater 

 than is really the case. The mxmber of the branched 

 ravs seems to lie 12' or 13, the latter probably being 

 tlie normal number in this species as in the Garpike. 

 The ventral fins occupy about the same position in the 

 abdominal region' as in the Garpike; but as the relative 

 length of both the abdominal part'' and the head is 

 someAvhat less than in the latter species, the ventral 

 fins, as well as the dorsal and anal fins, assume a more 

 forward position on the body^ The vent is not so 

 large or so prominent as in the Garjiike; but here too, 

 in a ti'iangular cavity Ijehind it, we sometimes find 

 (in the males?) a small genital papilla. The scales ave 

 of the same tliin texture as in tlie Garjiike and are 

 also deciduous, being larger on the lower portion of 

 the sides than on the upper, but of more uniform size 

 tlian in the preceding species. As the belly is much more 

 compressed underneath tlian in tlie Garpike, the two lat- 

 eral lines are much nearer each otlier: with this ex- 

 ception the course of these lines is the same, ending 



at the second or third of the anal finlets, counting 

 from behind. 



The changes of development undergone by the 

 Saury are essentially the same as those of the Garpike, 

 but of much later occurrence. The clearest illustration 

 of this is given by the above figures borrowed from 

 LuTKEN. The original of fig. c {Scomhresox, p. 346) 

 ■was about tAvice as long as that of fig. /)' {Bamplii- 

 stoma), of fig. il {Scomhresox) about ecjual in length to 

 that of fig. ;' {Ramphistonia). The Hemiramphus stage 

 is thus persistent for a much longer period in the Saurv 

 than in the Garpike. On the other hand we find that, 

 when once the elongation of the jaws has begun, the 

 difference in their length is never so great as in the 

 latter species. 



The Saury Pike is a more pelagic fish than the 

 Garpike, and a surface fish of a still more distinct 

 character. It is at the surface that it spawns and 

 passes its time, leaping or even fl3'ing still more like 

 a Flying-fish than the Garpike. In the Tropical and 

 Temperate Zones its range extends all round the world: 

 it has long been known in the Mediterranean and the 

 Atlantic; Lutken has shown that it occurs in the In- 

 dian Ocean; according to Jordan and Gilbkht it is 

 fairly common on both sides of North America; Ny- 

 STROM has found it among the collection of Japanese 

 fishes in Upsala Museum. Like the Garpike, however, 

 when it approaches the coast, it sometimes enters the 

 harbours and the mouths of rivers. It makes annual 

 visits to the English coast, but probably not for pur- 

 poses of reproduction, foi' the spawning apparently takes 

 place in the open sea, where the fry have been found 

 in large numbers. It arrives off the English coast, 

 according to Couch, at the beginning of summer, and 

 departs at about the middle of autumn or even as late 

 as the end of November. "The Skippers," says Couch, 

 "are followed and persecuted by the Porpoise, and the 

 more swift and energetic Tunny and Bonito, wliich 

 appear to devour many of them; and in their eager- 

 ness to escape multitudes are seen to mount to the 

 surface, to Avhich the particular construction of the 



" The distance between tljcsc fins and Ihe tip of the lower jaw is between about 70 and 72 °o of the length of the body. 



' MoREAU and Day state the number of true rays in the caudal fin at 14, i. e. excluding the two outermost, which are undivided, 

 12 branched caudal rays. The author, like Lilueuorg, finds the number of the brancljcd rays to be 13. 



' Somewhat beliind Ihe end of the second third of the abdominal region. 



'' We have found the length of the abdominal region in Ramphistoma beloiie to vary between about 46 and 49 % of that of llie 

 body, and in Scomhresox saurus between about 40 and 43 % thereof. 



•^ The distance between the ventral fins and the tip of the lower jaw, in the specimens we have examined, has never been as much 

 as 59 % of the length of the body. 



